Max's Plague of Nightmares
by MaxWriter452
Summary: Max has these horrible nightmares that she doesn't understand. When it gets to much for her or her friends to handle alone, they look for answers to only one question: Why is this happening to her? T due to horror content and some mild swearing. *Not recommented if you scare easily* I own nada.
1. Chapter 1

The bad thing about nightmares is they feel so real, so in the moment.

"Run Max! RUN!" The person in black yelled across the field. It was amazing that with all the ruckus the battle between us and whatever these things were, but was as clear as a bell. My body ached as a turned and ran, the cuts were oozing and the bruises were burning, but I sprinted as if my life depended on it. Well, it probably did.

I ran into the lush forest that surrounded the clearing, breaking through tree branches and bushes. Everything ached and my heart pounded, lungs screaming for enough air and then it hit me. It hit me hard, one of the monsters had followed me and tackled me head on. It started tearing through my flesh with its claws. It was going to kill me piece by piece, striping my flesh from my bone. The monster wrapped its claws around my arms and forced me to the ground. It pinned me down, pushing my face into the muck and dirt I had been running on.

"Max! Max, it's me!" Oh great, now the monster talks? "Come on Max."

"Let go of me!" I struggled under its grip, kicking and screaming, trying any way possible to get out. "No, no, no!" I closed my eyes, desperate to force myself in to reality, away from the foul stench every part of this gruesome beast was saturated in. Then it all stopped.

I felt hands on my face, and I heard two sets of breathing patterns. One was gasping and irregular, which I'm sure was mine, and one was calm and steady. I flung my eyes wide open. I was in my room, in my bed. I was wake, I was safe.

"Max?" The person holding me down removed their hands and sat on the edge of my bed. It was my best friend from the next room over. His name was Nick, but everyone called him Fang.  
"Max, are you okay?" Fang asked, a worried expression on his face. He rarely showed his emotions, but around me he was more open.

"Ya, I'm fine." I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs what were still underneath the covers. "Just a nightmare."

"No, Max, it was not 'just a nightmare'. These things are getting worse. It took me ten minutes to wake you up this time. You scream every night. It scares Angie." Angela was his adopted little sister that he took care of on the weekends, I helped babysit her on my nights off. She is thee most adorable thing on the face of the planet, let me tell you that is an understatement. "Max, what is going on?"

I looked at him, pushing my hair behind my ears. "I don't know Fang... I don't know."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: If I was JP, would I be here? No… duh

As I walked out of my apartment at six o'clock the next morning, Fang cornered me. "Max," he started, grabbing my arm, "I think you need some help." He looked at me, with his eyes dark as night. We had talk about this so many times before: a sleep study, or whatever you call those things. Some doctors would watch me sleep for a night or two inside a special room, like THAT doesn't sound creepy.

"Fang, why does it matter so much to you?" I asked, pulling away and walking to the lift. He followed me like does every day, both of us going to work: me to a café and him to the guitar store down the street.

"Why can't you just try it?" He responded, once we were in the lift. "Just for one night, it might help. You never know." And then ladies and gentlemen, he gave me the puppy eyes... so I just had to say yes. I mean, who can't say yes when confronted with the puppy eyes? I rolled my eyes in defeat.

"Fine," I sighed and he grinned, "but, on one condition." His smile faded, trying to guess at that I was planning. I laughed. "No worries! It's not too bad. I just want you to be there with me, behind the glass or something. So I know have nothing to worry about." I blushed furiously, and the lift was thankfully at the bottom of the apartment building. He just laughed and gave me a hug.

"Of course, " he said, squeezing me tight, "Not a problem. See you for lunch?" I nodded a yes and we both went our separate ways, down either side of the sidewalk. As I walked down to Buenos Dias Cafe, aka my work, I thought about this thing I was agreeing to. What if something went wrong, what if I had a lesion in my brain or something, why was this happening to me?

"Good morning every one!" I yelled as I entered the cafe. James and Monique popped up from behind the back counter and rushed to give me a good morning hug. James ended up tripping over a stool and landing face first on the floor, which sent both Monique and I into a fit of giggles.

"Oh ya, laugh at the guy who makes your breakfast in the morning," he said, getting up off the floor and dusting himself off, "how does pancakes a la spit sound?" Ya, we let a guy cook, sue me.

"Oh, Ig you would never," Monique said with a smile. We call James by his middle name Iggy. Long story short, his parents where hippies and he liked fire. "But in other news," she turned to me, "what up with you?" My friends were all connected in this weird circle, we all went to college and were now taking a break before hitting, as Iggy calls it, the "Big League". We knew nearly everything about one another.

"Well," I started moving my way into the back to start prepping, "Fang got me to agree to that sleep-trial-thing." I shuttered as flashbacks from last night went through my head.

"It happened again, didn't it? The nightmares are back, aren't they?" Monique came closer and started to rub my back. "Oh, Max. It's going to be okay."

"You don't know that Nudge…" I well, nudged her, out of the way and set up the fresh scones and muffins in the case. And just in case you were wondering Nudge is called Nudge because you can't shut her up any other way. "But, anyways, I'm going call to get an appointment to get this thing checked out. I don't want to have to worry about this every day of my life."

"Well I can take the first couple minutes of your shift so you can call the Doc. Okay?"

As the café started to fill up, I went to the back and called the Sleep Clinic. I eventually got through and scheduled an appointment for tonight, it was just my luck that they had had a last minute cancelation. I wanted to get to the bottom of this- whatever it was- as soon as physically possible. My shift went by quickly with no problems. I served coffee and got tips, pretty routine stuff. Then when lunch rolled around, Fang came strolling in with a Mickey D's bag and two cups.

"Hey, I thought this was my day." I joked as I finished wiping up the last of my tables. Fang slid on to one of the stools lining the counter and pulled out my lunch from the bag. "Oh, and I called the sleep clinic. I got an appointment for tonight, is that okay with you?"

"It's perfectly fine with me," he said, biting into his hamburger. "Angela is at her Mom's house and I can get time off from work. Thanks for doing this." We ate in near silence, with the occasional interruption of Iggy or Nudge. My lunch hour and my next shift flew by as I waited for my appointment at the sleep clinic.

LATER: At the Sleep Clinic

After waiting for freaking-ever in the waiting room, they took me to a light blue room with a bed and a much of machines. Then I sat on the bed with Fang and waited another for freaking-ever long time. Then the Doc. Came in.

"Hi, Max. I'm Doctor Cabell and I'll be supervising your test tonight," the Doc said coming into the room. The Doc was a he and ,I got to admit, he was actually pretty cute. And if he was by chance like 20-ish instead of 30-ish I would totally date him. Well, anyways, he explained the procedures- which really, I don't have to worry about- and gave me a minute to change into my pajamas in another room. When I can back into the room, he hooked a bunch of wires to my forehead and my chest. They were to measure the basics- brain activity and hear rate and stuff like that.

"Fang, can I talk to you?" I asked as the Doc finished with the machines. He nodded and stayed behind as the Doc went into the viewing room.

"What is it Max?" He asked, as he sat down on the bed, "Anything I can do?"

"Just make sure everything goes okay, alright?"

"Anything for you, if it helps with whatever this is." With that he kissed my wire-covered forehead and left to go sit in the viewing room with the Doc. Now just to get to sleep, like that was easy…

Hey You. Yes, You reading this author's note. Do you want to help write this story? Suggest ideas in your review!

Out- MaxWriter452


	3. Chapter 3

**Ohhh, two updates in one night…. :D**

**Disclaimer: I think you should know by now .**

Third toward Fang POV

Fang sat behind the glass in the viewing room, with his nose practically pressed up against the glass. He promised her that nothing would happen to her while she slept, and he would keep that promise. She didn't deserve what was happening to her. Fang had decided that he was going to help her fix this problem, no matter what it was. "_Please be okay Max_" He whispered more to himself than the Doc.

"You two must be pretty close," the Doc said as he started up the computer that was hooked up to Max's machines on the other side of the glass. "To come this far for someone and not be… well I've never seen that before. So, what are you to her? Boyfriend? Husband?"

Fang sighed. "I don't know what I am to her, but it's not one of those. I do know what she is to me, though. She's the best thing that could have happened to me and I let her slip by. I'm stuck in the friend zone, Doc." Fang watched Max as she tried to settle into the bed, around all the wires attached to her body. The steady beep of her heart monitor filled the room as Doc turned up the audio on the computer monitor, but she wasn't falling asleep, she kept tossing and turning.

"_Hey Doc,"_ Max said, her voice muffled by the glass, "_Can Fang- I mean Nick- come and sit with me until I fall asleep?" _The Doc hit a button on a microphone stand and then spoke.

"_I'm sorry Max, your test is for your natural sleep patterns. So, you must be isolated."_

"_Oh,"_ was all she said in reply. Then the Doc looked towards Fang.

"Why don't you try talking to her, she can't see us behind this glass, but maybe hearing your voice might help. She seems a little frightened by this place." Doc pushed the microphone towards Fang and pointed out the button he would have to push for her to be able to hear what he was saying.

"_Hey Max, I'm right here. And I will be all night, but you have to get to sleep for this test to work." _Max's face relaxed at the sound of his voice, he was here for her. _"Go to sleep Max, if anything happens, I will be right next to you in a matter of seconds." _And with that she started to relax and fall asleep. All that was left to do was wait. As the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned to hours, Fang found his eye-lids start to droop. His head as leaned against a spare pillow which was then leaning against the glass that separated him and Max. Then he heard an odd sounding beep and he jolted awake, dropping his pillow on the floor. The Doc laughed.

"She is just falling into her REM state of sleep, nothing to worry about. But this is where dreams naturally start to form. So be on the lookout for any movement or sounds that she usually makes during these… 'horrendous nightmares' you called them." Fang gave a nod to the Doc and then went back to leaning against the glass, but this time he was wide awake and had his eye trained on Max, who was now resting peacefully on her stomach in her blue pajamas. But he knew it wouldn't last for two long. He knew how these things worked. She would sleep for three or four hours, five or six if she was luck, and then start screaming bloody murder. It scared the crap out of him and the first night she started the screaming, he thought she was dying. Now, almost every night he would rush over and unlock her door with his spare key, then to get her to quiet down he would –depending on how bad the dream was- either wake her up or crawl into her bed with her.

"_Fang…" _It was Max, from the other side of the glass.

"Doc," Fang said anxiously, "I think the nightmare is starting." He had never heard this part of her nightmares before- just the screaming bloody murder part- so he couldn't say exactly. The Doc nodded and started recording the waves that her brain was outputting. Fang was now completely pressed up to the glass, his sleep and pillow seeming a distant forgotten memory.

"_I don't want to run, I can leave you!" _They listened to her voice from behind the glass and to the beeps of the monitors, which were gaining speed at an alarming rate.

"Doc, I have to do something. I can't stand to hear this again." Fang pleaded again and again with Doctor Cabell, but every time he received the same answer. The test was to go on, uninterrupted. At least until she started screaming bloody murder. Only then was the test going to be stopped. Max flipped over and her breathing started to excel at a rapid pace. Fang had to look at the screen to check her readings. He didn't know exactly what they meant, but by the look of the jagged lines and Doc's face, he knew it wasn't good.

"_FANG HELP," _Max screamed. Then came the garbled screams that he knew too well, ones that didn't even form words. They were just sounds of unbearable pain.

"I have to get in there, stop the test, and wake her up!" Fang yelled at Doctor Cabell, practically running out of the viewing room and into the room where Max lay, screaming and crying all at the same time.

"FANG," Max cried out, at the top of her lungs.

"I'm here, I'm here." Fang rushed to her side and cradled in his arms as if she were a child. "I'm here Max, you're safe. I'm here." ***** Max cried out again, but more of a sob than a scream and then her eyes flew open.

"Fang," she said, her sobs encasing the rest of the words that she wanted to, but didn't have to say.

"I know, I know." He replied as he lifted her from the bed into his lap. He buried his face into her hair. "Let's just hope that the Doc. got something out of this."

They lay like that for some time: His face in her hair and her face nestled into his neck. Bracing themselves for what might come next.

***[Little author's note here: I was listening to They Move On Tracks Of Never-Ending Light by This Will Destroy You when I wrote this, it just seemed to describe this moment perfectly, even without words]**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: If I was JP, I would not be on here. **

**But as a side note I am writing a book in my spare time and will post about it when it finally gets finished.**

Chapter 4

We just sat there on the test bed waiting for the doctor to come back with the results, well what little results he had got before, well you know. All I could hope for was that the nightmares weren't cause by some lethal aneurism or something that could possibly kill me in my sleep. Yep, that would defiantly suck. As the door opened after what seemed like an eternity, but was surely only minutes, the doctor came in with hands full with charts- my charts.

"Well, you are defiantly a rare case Miss Luis," he said as he set everything at the end of the bed. "Your charts are quite extraordinary; I have never seen anything like it. Have you ever had concussion before?" A concussion, what does that have to do with anything? Sure, I had an adventurous childhood- falling out of numerous trees and what not.

"Um, yes. Loads of times" I said, "But what does that have to do with my nightmares?" Doctor Cabell sighed, and I don't think that was a good sigh.

"Just as I thought," he said. Then he went on to explain how a certain number of head injuries can cause someone's mind to get all jumbled. I'll spare you the doctor mumbo jumbo, but basically what he was saying was that my memories and my imagination weren't distinguishable to the other sense areas in my brain, blah blah blah. He ended it by saying he would like me to set up a camera at night and make another appointment to get my head examined.

"Look what you have gotten me into!" I told Fang as we walked out of the office with our things and my extra bag of goodies. "Now I have to do all these extra things... I won't remember half of them you know." He just smirked, being his quiet self. After that the drive back to our apartment building was silent, I could tell something was on his mind- but I didn't bother to ask. We passed by the café which was still closed for another hour, parked, rode the lift up to our floor, and just when I was about to go into my apartment- he spoke up.

"Why did you say that you couldn't leave me?" The question took me by surprise; I didn't think that that much of my nightmare leaked into reality. The horrible images flashed in the back of my mind, I shivered.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I said trying to pass by the question. He put he had on my door, stopping me from going inside to avoid the conversation.

"You know what I mean. In your nightmare, you said you couldn't leave me. Why? What was happing to me?" He clearly wasn't going to let this go.

"Just come inside and let me explain." I said in a hushed tone. I really didn't like talking about my nightmares. I didn't know where the ideas came from, I wasn't even a fan of scary movies.

As I locked the door and put my things down, he sat on the couch in my small 'front room' area which was next to my even smaller kitchen. I pulled up a chair so that I faced him from where he was sitting. This was going to take a while.

**Hey there! So if you liked it, please review. As I explained in my other story- I will try to update as I can, school takes up a lot of my time and then I also have work. Please try to understand! Thanks!**

**Peace. Love. Books**

**-Maxwriter452 **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, blah, blah , blah. But I do own my plot- so please respect it!**

**[So I forgot I had this on here, lol. Oops, ha ha, that's awkward... anyways. I'm going to write when I get ideas or when I get a break between school and work. Enjoy!]**

Max POV

I told Fang as much I as could remember, which wasn't much at that. I never remembered how the nightmares started; all I knew was that I had to run from these grotesque monsters. I shivered at even the slightest thought of them. I had to leave everything, that included Fang, Iggy, Nudge, and Angle, and run for my life. We all did. I ended my story where I would always end up, safe in Fang's presence or arms -right after almost being torn to shreds by these... things. Fang looked dumbstruck, shocked and possibly a tiny bit angry. But he didn't say anything. "So?" I demanded, "You wanted to hear it. That's what I can remember."

Fang took his hands and rubbed his face. "Max, what the hell?" He sighed, "I just... I don't even..." He trailed off. Had I really been too detailed? He was the one who had wanted to know, it was his own darn fault. He got up from the couch and stared to pace. "Why didn't you talk to me sooner?" He was frazzled. "I don't want you to go through this alone." He walked over to where I was sitting and took my hands in his. "Max, you have to promise me," he shook my hands up and down, "promise me that you'll talk to me about this."

I scoffed, "Fang, these nightmares are not that bad in comparison. I mean they're fake." I looked into his eyes as I reassured him, "nothing is going to hurt me." He still did didn't seem satisfied. As I stood up, I slid my hands out of his grip and met him in an almost bone crushing hug. "I promise," I whispered into his neck or rather collarbone. With one more squeeze he released me, his tired eyes still looking down in worry. "I'll be fine," I promised again, "now go and get some actual sleep!"

I pushed a reluctant Fang out the door and got everything ready for my late shift at the cafe, Nudge was probably already there along with the other waiters and waitresses. I didn't have to start getting ready for another two hours, so I set up the stupid camera that the Doc had given me so they could study my sleep in a more "natural setting". Ugh, gag me with a spoon. Why did this have to happen to me? I fumbled and grumbled with the camera for an hour before I got it so it set in just the right place to record my sleeping habits. I still thought this was a weird idea, but hey, at least it beat being wired to machines while I slept. Geez, _that_ was an experience I never wanted to go through again.

My shift went pretty normal, a few odd looks from Nudge but other than it seemed fine. Until I saw it again. But "it" I mean the perpetually grotesque things that haunted my nightmares whenever I closed my eyes. The first time I had seen it was out of the corner of my eye while I was serving food to a customer, I recognized it instantly and nearly dropped the plate of food that I was holding. I brushed it off as a side effect of the horrible night of sleep that had had the sleep center.

But now, during closing I saw it again. It was standing in the corner of the cafe, sharp mangled teeth bared in a menacing snarl. Everything seemed to stop dead it its track. Sounds grew muffled as the bucket I had been using to bus the last of the tables fell to the ground. I couldn't hear the plates shatter, all I could hear was my own heart beating fast with fright. I couldn't feel the shattered ceramic cutting in my hands as I fell backwards, all I could feel was breathe that was meant to become a scream stuck in my throat. I crawled back, sliding under the table of one of the booths. Iggy had left; Nudge was still in the back- I didn't know what to do. I hid my hands in my face and waited, terrified beyond belief. Then something grabbed my foot.

I let out a blood curdling scream as it dragged me from my position under the table, curling into a tight ball. I knew what these things did and I didn't want it to happen for really. As it let go of my foot, I prepared for the worst. I my eye where still closed- not wanting to see my impending doom. I grabbed my shoulders and shook. Drops of water started to hit my hands, wait it couldn't be raining inside, could it? I stopped screaming and removed my hands from my face, intent on punching this thing in the face, but I stopped short. It was Nudge, eyes red with tears streaming down her face.

"Max, god dam it Max," she cried, "it's me, it's just me." She pulled my now shaking form into a hug. "It's just me," she said in a soft tone. I started to cry along with her. I didn't need this; the nightmares had been enough of a struggle as it was. Now hallucinations? I didn't need this. As I stopped crying, we picked up what was left of the shatter plates and found all the silver ware that had been scattered across the café floor. Fang was right, what the hell was wrong with me?

Third Person towards Fang

Max was right, he need sleep. After she had pushed him out of her apartment, he had barely made it to the couch before collapsing. He had dosed off sometime after he had heard her fiddle with the camera that the Doc had given her. Max and technology certainly did not mix. But now he was wide awake. Nudge had called, but it didn't wake him, she left a voice mail saying that something had happened at the café. She had said it wasn't her place to tell him about it, but just to be careful with Max tonight. Max would be home any time now, but he would wait until morning to bug her about what had happened. She was still kind of touchy on the subject of what went on inside her head.

He heard the classic "ding" of the elevator reaching their floor, knowing it was Max. He heard her rush to her door, scrabbling for her keys. Whatever had happened at the café must have scared the crap out of her. Never had he known her to scrabble for keys or _**SLAM**_ shut the door with such force. He was legitimately worried; after all, he had been the one that suggested that she get help. He shook his head as he made his way to his bedroom. "Please," he prayed quietly as he got into bed, "Please let her be alright."

There were no sounds coming from her apartment until late in the night. He assumed that she had gone to bed much much later than he had. Tonight was different, he woke up not to the screaming he was used to, but to muffed crying. He let her be, maybe she would wake herself up, like she did in the days before these nightmares got so bad. He took an extra pillow and shoved in under his head. He _would_ be there if things started to go bad, he need to stay awake. He listened to her muffled crying through the wall of his bedroom, much like he had the night after her first really bad nightmare. All he could hear was her heart breaking sobs, until she suddenly stopped. Then there was a bang against the shared wall, a crash of breaking glass- which he knew was the vase at the end of her bed, and the sound of running feet.

As he jumped out of his bed, in nothing but a pair of sleep pants, he hear her outer door fly open and bang against the wall of the hallway. There was a hard pounding at his door.

"FANG OPEN THE DOOR!" Max screamed as she continued pounding from the other side, " FANG GOD DAM IT OPEN THE DOOR." He ran as fast as his legs could to his door and flung it open. There was Max, tear stained cheeks, bloody hands and quivering in her beat up old sleep shirt and shorts. She took one look at him and slumped to the ground. Fang dove to catch her before her head hit, pulling her into a bridal style carry and bring her inside. Then he set her on his couch, not caring about the stains her hands would leave and rushed to get the first aid kit.

What the hell had happen?!


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: If I was JP, I would not be on here. **

Third Person towards Fang

First aid kit in hand, Fang ran back to Max grabbing things he would need along the way. A towel, a cup of water, a sponge. He had taken a class on this in college, he had joked about the fact that he would never need it. Now it was coming in real handy.

He knelt down by her, starting with her hands, he need to stop the bleeding first. Man, her skin was warm. "Max," he started, "Come on Max, open your eyes." He was finished with one hand, cleaning and bandaging it the best he could with what he had. "Come on Max," he said again as he started cleaning her other hand, "Max you need to wake up." He was done with her hands and now moved to clean off her face. She shouldn't be this warm, he thought as he pressed his hand to her forehead. "Come on Max, come on, wake up," he kept repeating as he wet her forehead- using the towel as a cold compress. Finally she spoke.

"Fang." It was weak, but it was something.

"Hey there," he smiled down at her, "you need to stay awake, okay?" She nodded slightly. "Good, can you tell me your name?"

"My name is Max, stupid," she replied with a small laugh.

Okay, he sighed. She didn't seem to have any brain damage. "Good, good, now what is my name," he asked, just to make sure.

"I already said your name, it's Fang. Duh."

"No, no. My real name silly."

"That is your real name"

Now he was concerned and a little bit worried. Why would she think his nickname was his really name? "No," he said a bit tensely, "My name is Nick." Her eyes flew open from the slits they had been. "My name is Nicholas Martinez, and you are Maxine Luis." His hand and towel were still on her forehead as she sat up, shrinking away from him.

"No, no. You are Fang. I've known you since we were kids," she said, hardly getting the sentence out. She was shaking hard and seemed to be completely confused and scared.

"Max, we met in college, I can prove it. Stay here." He got up from his kneeling position next to his couch and went around his apartment, and eventually hers too, gathering photos and evidence to show a very confused Max. Their graduation photo, a photo of them and the group at a bar for Max's twenty second birthday, her driver's license, his driver's license. Her apartment was almost on the edge of trashed, but he would take care of that later.

He came back to his apartment to find Max dry heaving in his bathroom. Fang set the "evidence" in a pile right outside the door and went in to hold her hair out of the way. When she was done, she rested her head against the bowl of the toilet, let out a shaky sigh and closed her eyes. Fang checked her forehead, it was no longer the warm almost feverish temperature that it had been earlier. He let out a sigh of relief and laid his head on hers, whatever had happen had left as suddenly just as it had overcome Max.

As soon as she was unconscious he scooped her up and moved her to his bed. He knew Max didn't dream when she was sick, so he wanted her to get as much rest as she could while he took care of the mess that had taken over her apartment next door. He didn't get a real good look the first time, he had been too concerned about Max. But now he saw the real damage.

There was a path to the door way filled with furniture and objects that had been knocked down in her mad attempt to get out of apartment. He cleaned up her small living room and moved on to her bedroom. He heard no sounds coming from the other side of the wall, where Max was peacefully asleep (for once), so he continued on cleaning.

He was mopping up the water that had spilled and cleaning up the broken glass from the vase when something caught his eye. Lying on its side was the camera that Dr. Cabell had given her to record her natural sleep habits. And it was still recording. Maybe it had captured whatever had happened to Max.

She had turned it on right before getting into bed, and it took her about five or six minutes to fall asleep. He skipped her tossing and turning, and hit play when he saw her sit bolt upright it bed. She backed up and hit her head hard in the wall. That was the bang he must have heard earlier. Her eyes were wide and scared as she clambered over her bed and end table, knocking over the vase- which broke on the ground. Then she bolted from her room, knocking the camera on its side. He couldn't really see anything that might have scared her so much, but then he did. It was just for a few seconds and he only saw half of the creature, but he could see why Max was so scared.

It seemed to come out of nowhere, it just appeared on the left hand side of the screen. It was all black and it had the most horrible slickly expression. What the hell was it?

Max POV

What had happened? I couldn't remember, why can't I remember? The last thing I _can_ remember is turning on the camera Doctor Cabell had given me and falling into bed. And now I'm here, but where was "here"? Because this was defiantly _not _my bed.

My head pounded as I sat upright, or at least tried to. My hands were bound in bandages. I didn't wrap them when I had gotten home from the incident at the cafe, did I? Balancing on my elbows, I looked at my hands. No, the wrapping was too neat to have been done by me and it was on both hands no less.

I had to find out where I was, so I flung the covers off and more or less fell out of the bed. Okay, black covers, dark flooring, I knew of one person who had such a bleak color scheme: Nick. This made my paranoia subside rapidly.

I pulled myself to a semi-standing position and leaned against the wall of his bedroom. Geez, what was wrong with me? I couldn't have lost _that _much blood from the cuts on my hands. I tried calling out to get his attention, wherever he was, but much like my legs my voice failed me as well. I pounded my fist against the wall. Nope, ouch, bad idea. I swore in my head, momentarily forgetting my wounded hands. I hope he heard me, I couldn't stand upright for much longer. My knees buckling, I slid down the wall and faced the door the door.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours, I couldn't tell. But sooner or later, Nick came through the bedroom door. "Hi, come here often?" I mouthed weakly, I tried my best to be sarcastic through the pain I was in. He just shook his head, a sad smile on his face. "Water?" I mouthed. He left and came back with two glasses, then sat down next to me on the ground.

"Max," he took a breath, "Max, what happened?"

I took a sip before answering. "I don't know, you tell me."

He seemed surprised. "What do you mean? Don't mess with me. Are you saying you can't remember what happened or you don't_ want_ to remember what happened?"

I gave a shrug. "The last thing I remember is falling asleep in my own bed. Then I woke up here. As far as I'm concerned, there is nothing in between." He retold me the events of the earlier night and when he got the part about seeing the creature on the video camera- this time I actually did drop my water, spilling it all over myself and a bit on Nick.

"So you've seen this thing before?" His question was urgent. "When? Where?"

My eyes were wide as I choked out my answer, "Every night... In my nightmares."

His eyes too, went wide. "How?" He asked, just as shocked as I was.

I couldn't answer, I just burst into tears. No, no, no, this could not be happening. I curled into a ball and clung to Nick as if my life depended on him. Which, right now, it probably did.


End file.
